


Rainy Stares

by Pixxyofice



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Shirogane Naoto, Other, Post-Canon, can you tell i've been thinking about kannao. c. can you tell, don't answer that my most recent fic before this fic is yet another kannao piece, if you think i should tag anything else lemme know, killed my friends with fluff. and now you will be killed too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25401796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice
Summary: The rain pattered on the window behind them."Kanji," Naoto said, and Kanji made a hum noise of recognition. "... Let's try to keep this a secret from Rise."
Relationships: Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	Rainy Stares

**Author's Note:**

> you ever just. think of kannao. and go 'yeah'....? well.
> 
> here is yet another kannao piece. please enjoy.

The night was quiet. The rain poured outside, pounding against the windowsill in a rhythmic fashion, providing nothing but background noise to the two people left inside.

The two of them had been looking at each other for a while now, eye contact held and hearts in their throats as time ticked by. Their stares were well beyond the point of social acceptability for friends, but—

Naoto took in a shuddering breath, and it was that sound that made reality crash down like the rain on the window.

"Shit," Kanji swore, "Sorry, Naoto, I didn' mean t'—"

"No, Kanji," Naoto said, and Kanji stopped, heart pounding in his ears. "It's..."

Naoto stopped, adjusting their arms closer to their chest. They looked away, face red as well, and Kanji saw their lip quiver. Were they figuring out what they wanted to say?

It took a few seconds for him to register that Naoto hadn't referred to him as Kanji-kun, but just  _ Kanji _ .

What could that mean? Especially after they had stared at each other for what felt like an eternity?

"We— I—" Naoto attempted to start again, and Kanji tore himself out of his thoughts to look at them. 

They were looking at him for a brief moment before looking away again, but this time, Kanji could see the red that covered their face. His heart was pounding even faster now, but he had to ignore it. What was Naoto...  _ why _ did Naoto...?

Naoto took another shaky breath, before reaching across the table and wrapping their hand around Kanji's. Kanji's heartbeat shot up, and Naoto smiled nervously at him.

"We should..." Naoto took in another breath, "we should talk about... us. Our relationship."

Kanji's first association with the word relationship was... well, dating. It was an understandable thought, with how his heart pounded and how nervous Naoto was, but he knew Naoto wasn't that type of person. He didn't want to make any type of conclusion.

Though he and Naoto did just stare into each other's eyes for what felt like too long.

Naoto rubbed a finger over the back of his hand. "Let us move to the couch." A smile lifted on their face. "This isn't a very comfortable position."

Kanji nodded, jittery and nervous. Naoto slid out of their chair, hand still on his. He followed suit, watching as Naoto's smile grew a little less tense at his action. 

Their hand was still wrapped around his, and they pulled Kanji towards the worn couch. Kanji stumbled a bit from the force of their pull, but they were sitting on the couch soon enough.

Naoto was sitting entirely too close to him. Naoto was still holding his hand. Too close.  _ Too close.  _ They had lapsed into a sort of silence, the rain pouring down the window again their only noise. 

Kanji was getting nervous. Judging by the way they were rubbing circles into the back of his hand, so was Naoto. 

What did they  _ mean _ , talk about their relationship? There was one thought Kanji kept returning to, but he couldn't believe it. He refused to. Naoto wouldn't...

The rain increased in intensity, beating down against the window behind them. Naoto jumped at the sudden noise, hand tightening around his.

"S-Sorry," Naoto tugged their hand away from Kanji's, voice light, "I didn't mean to..."

Kanji reached out his hand and took it back, not missing how Naoto briefly stiffened and their eyes shot back up to him. "Hey, it's okay, you don't need to worry about it." He said, voice soft. He saw their eyes widen slightly, before they glanced back at their joined hands. Kanji felt their hand soften in his grip, and Naoto curled their fingers around his hand.

The silence between them only stayed for a second before Kanji blurted out, "So, what was that about our relationship? We came over here, an' you're just..." Kanji squeezed his hand, and Naoto looked away, but they squeezed back.

"I was..." Naoto trailed off, eyes furrowing. "... thinking on how to word my observations in a way that...."

"That...?"

The rain continued to drum on the window, filling the air when Naoto didn't follow up. Kanji noticed that Naoto looked away, squeezing Kanji's hand and taking a noticeable deep breath.

"Naoto—"

"I didn't want to break what we have." Naoto interrupted, small and quiet and  _ scared _ , and Kanji stopped, a breath catching in his throat.

Kanji had felt that before. During the many nights he and Naoto had shared together, discussing homework or their projects, or laughing over the odd labels on soda cans, or sighing at the antics of their friend group— really, nobody was fooling them—

Wait.

"Kanji...?"

Kanji let out his shaking breath, pretty sure that a nervous laugh might have escaped with it. 

Naoto was staring at him, eyebrows creased and mouth set in the way that Kanji knew was how they held back all the thoughts and emotions in their head.

His heart was pounding, almost beating out the sound of the rain.

"I've, uh," What a way to start. "I've actually felt the same. 'bout, y'know, not breaking our friendship."

Naoto continued to stare, but their lips separated slightly, quivering with a soft gasp he could barely hear. They didn't say anything, though, just watched, eyes shimmering.

He had to keep going. This felt like the best chance he had, with the rain pounding against the window and their hand in his, tightening slightly.

He took in a quick breath. "I've had a crush on you for... hell, feels like forever by now." He dragged his hair back with his free hand, only able to look at Naoto for a few moments before glancing away. "And it's been like, I wanted to tell ya, but I didn't really... know how you felt back, or if you even were going to be able to stand me if you knew, so I've always just—"

There was a squeeze on his hand, and Kanji glanced back in Naoto's direction. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but the smile that was gracing their face wasn't it. Their eyes were perking up at the sides, still shining.

"Kanji." Naoto spoke with a tone Kanji was sure he had heard before, but not like this, never in a situation like this. "I never thought— Before today, I didn't—" They sighed, a chuckle escaping them. "I'm sorry, I'm not... used to things like this." They placed their free hand over their chest. "I... have a crush on you. As well."

"R-Really?!" Holy shit. Holy shit?

"Yeah." Naoto's smile grew, and another small laugh escaped them before they stared down at their hands. They rubbed their thumb over the back of Kanji's palm again.

The rain filled their silence again, but it was different from the silence of earlier. Kanji's heart felt so full, Naoto was smiling so wide that Kanji was unused to how it looked on their face, but he liked it. He loved it.

"S-So," He said, to avoid going further down that line of thought. "Wh-What do we do? After this?"

Naoto's smile lessened only slightly, and another laugh escaped them. "Um.... I believe this is where... we would start dating...? I believe." Naoto brushed their hair aside with their free hand. "...yes?"

"Uh—" Well, now that they said it, he felt silly. "Y-yeah. Dating. Partners."

Naoto's smile grew again. "Partners. Just like Yosuke-senpai and Souji-senpai?"

"Exactly!" Kanji laughed, and it was like the nervous energy drained away. 

The two of them chuckled on the couch, and Naoto pressed closer to him, leaning their head into his shoulder. He tensed up briefly, but that quickly went away as he leaned on their head, as well. 

The rain pattered on the window behind them.

"Kanji," Naoto said, and Kanji made a hum noise of recognition. "... Let's try to keep this a secret from Rise."

"Oh, god, you too?" Kanji groaned, and Naoto made a small snort noise of amusement. "Rise's a bit nosy sometimes, ain't she?"

"We were lucky she left early tonight, before the rain hit."


End file.
